Splinters
by TheTrueBuckbuck2
Summary: A man wakes up in a forest, his personal life stripped from him, but his memories are returning in painful "splinters." But what does this man's memories mean? (OC Centric)
1. Chapter 1: Green and Red Trailer

Geo Rightwater was a very confused man right now. He'd woken up mid-stride with absolutely no memories. Well, that wasn't exactly true. He could remember basic truths- Grimm were bad, he was a Hunter, Hunters fought Grimm, and so on- but he couldn't recall any specific events. He knew he'd been trained in using the weapon on his back, but he couldn't remember who trained him. Hell, he even knew the weapon's name- Verdant Penumbra- but not who made it.

But what confused him more was this feeling he had. It was enough to make him stop in his tracks. He felt afraid. But of what?

Then the first splinter came.

 _"You do realize that this has an infinitesimally small chance of success, correct?"_

 _"I have to do this. If I die, at least I'll be trying to make this right."_

Geo shook his head to clear the pain. What was that? It seemed like… a memory? If the "memory" was correct, then Geo was sent somewhere- here?- to try and fix something. But what?

No splinter came.

Geo took stock of his surroundings. He was walking on a densely forested path. The chill that he was just now feeling made him shiver. The withered branches seemed to reach out like gnarled fingers, searching for life. A thick layer of fog made it so Geo could only see a few feet in any direction.

Suddenly a high-pitched noise set Geo on edge. Verdant Penumbra flew into his hands as he took a battle stance. It took Geo a few seconds to recognize the sound. It was a baby. And it was crying.

Curious, Geo followed the sound of the crying. He barely even registered the odd tugging sensation on the top of his head. It took him a short period of time to find the baby. The baby was hastily swaddled in a pink blanket and left in the crook of some low-hanging branches. Geo reached the tree when he heard it. A low, inhuman growl.

Grimm.

Geo whirled around, his senses on high alert. Slowly, he scanned the trees. There didn't seem to be anyth- there, off to the right! A set of glowing red eyes. A hulking, bearlike figure, stalking towards them. An Ursa, attracted by the delicious confusion. Suddenly, it saw something coming for it.

It was dead before it could react.

Geo relaxed minutely, taking the opportunity to examine Verdant Penumbra. It was a pair of khopeshes connected by a chain. The blades were black, but there was a seam about a quarter inch away from the cutting edge of the blade where it turned a dark green. A quick inspection showed that when a small lever in the hilt was flipped, the seam would split apart, revealing the barrel of a gun. A look into Geo's half-memories revealed that it was the barrel of an assault rifle that had been modified to take sniper rounds. A quick check of the other khopesh revealed the same mechanism.

Geo then nearly facepalmed. He'd forgotten about the baby! At least he hadn't completed the facepalm- facepalming with a sword in hand is never a good idea. He flipped Verdant Penumbra onto his back- the blades magnetized together, the chain slung from left shoulder to right hip so it was on his back- and ran back to the baby.

Thankfully, the baby hadn't moved from its spot in the trees. It was also still crying.

"Shh," Geo said, picking up the baby and beginning to rock it. "I'll protect you."

The baby began to quiet down, and Geo finally looked at the baby. She- at least, Geo assumed it was a she, since it was too cold to unwrap the blanket and check- had bright red hair and wide, green eyes.

"You're pretty," Geo said to the baby. He lightly poked her nose, earning a giggle. Geo shifted his grip on the baby and began to run. He wanted out of the creepy forest **now**.

* * *

It thankfully didn't take too long to get out of the forest- whoever had abandoned the baby hadn't gone far in. Geo exited the forest and found himself on top of a hill that overlooked a sprawling suburban landscape. A quick dash to a nearby street sign marked the city as Kaiteki, on the continent of Mistral.

"Kaiteki, huh?" Geo said. "That means… absolutely nothing to me!"

After that, something compelled Geo to look for something kind of name on the baby's blanket, if only so he could stop mentally referring to it as "the baby." A quick search found the baby's full name in beautifully embroidered lettering.

"So, you're Pyrrha Andreíos Nikos," Geo said.

Walking through Kaiteki was a strange experience for Geo. Most people ignored him, but some looked at him with complete disgust. Pyrrha hadn't thrown up on him or anything- she was actually a well behaved, if quiet, baby- so it wasn't that. So what was it?

After aimlessly wandering around Kaiteki, Geo decided he needed a place to stay for a while. Near the edges of town, he found and inn that proclaimed that Hunters could sleep there for forty lien a night, a mere half of what others paid. Smelling a deal, Geo entered the inn.

The instant Geo walked through the door, he felt eyes on him, as about half the patrons of the bar- of course there was a bar- turned to look at him. Warily, Geo made his way over to the innkeeper, a burly, dark-skinned man.

"Whaddya want?" The innkeeper drawled, an aggressive edge to his voice. He didn't seem drunk, but Geo could smell the innkeeper's foul breath from where he was standing.

"I want to rent a room for one," Geo said.

"Fer how long?"

"One week, and I want a cot for the baby."

"The cot'll cost ya forty lien extra."

"I can take forty extra lien."

"A'right, yer total is six hundred lien."

"Alright," Geo said, reaching for the lien he knew was in his pocket. A thought made him pause. "Six hundred lien? That doesn't add up!"

"Sure it does."

"No, it doesn't! Even with the cot, it should only be three hundred twenty!"

"Nope. Eighty lien a night fer seven nights is five hundred sixty lien, plus forty fer the cot is six hundred lien."

"Excuse me, but the rate for Hunters is forty lien a night."

"Rates are double for Faunus."

Geo bristled. "Fine. Take your damn money."

He slammed the six hundred lien on the table, took the keys, and grabbed a cot from the supply closet.

* * *

Geo had gotten Pyrrha somewhat settled down in her cot. Turns out she didn't like being away from Geo for long, so he'd had to coax her into going to sleep. Geo didn't know much about babies (no shit), but he did know enough to know that this was going to be a long night.

Geo was currently about to enter the bathroom. Something the innkeeper had said was bugging him. "Rates are double for Faunus." What the hell was a Faunus?! If Faunuses (Fauni? Fauna?) were that big of a deal, then should've they been in Geo's half-memories. Geo entered the bathroom and turned to look at his reflection.

The second splinter came.

 _"-less than human-"_

 _"Worthless trash bag!"_

 _"-shouldn't be Faunus Hunters-"_

 _'Humans Only'_

 _"-unfortunately bloody-"_

 _"-White Fang!"_

…oh. Right.

Geo had jet black hair that came down to his shoulders. His dark green eyes traced a path over his almost unnaturally pale skin and on to his clothes. He wore a pair of dark blue jeans with a belt around his waist, a few small boxes clipped to the belt. Probably extra ammo. He wore a green hoodie with a black, stylized snarling wolf's head viewed from the left over where his heart was. Plates of armor adorned his shoulders. And, right there on top of his head, were a pair of triangular black ears. Wolf ears, the splinter's new information provided.

That wasn't all for Geo's Faunus traits, though. He sported a long black tail, his canines were larger and sharper than normal, and his memories confirmed that his sight, smell, and hearing were much greater than a normal human's, as well as apparently being able to howl like a wolf, for some odd reason. Geo would try that last one out, but he didn't think anyone would appreciate that.

Geo brushed his teeth with the toiletries provided by the inn, and took a nice long shower to unwind. He had to chuckle to himself. In one day, he'd woken up in a creepy-ass forest with next to no idea who he was, found a baby in said woods, and all but adopted said baby. Not bad for the first full day he could remember.

Once the water began to run cold, Geo got out of the shower. He toweled himself off and pulled on a pair of boxers and the black shirt he'd been wearing under the hoodie. Geo walked out of the bathroom and all but threw himself onto his bed. Geo closed his eyes and let sleep take him away. All too soon, a crying baby changed that.

* * *

 **Seventeen Years Later**

Within the prestigious Beacon Academy, the motley crew of teachers, their assistants, nurses, and one headmaster prepared for the Apocalypse: better known as the first day of school. But, it was better (read: worse) this year, because not only were both daughters of Taiyang Xiao Long and the current heiress to the Schnee Dust Company going to be attending, but so was Pyrrha Nikos, whose father apparently was the only known Hunter that Ozpin feared. Of course, that last part was a hoax, but not many people knew that, and those that did milked it for all that it was worth.

Within the office for the Dust Studies professor, a single figure- the professor- sat organizing papers. He wore an unbuttoned dark green sports coat, matching slacks, black penny loafers, and a black dress shirt under his sports coat. Sticking up from his black hair that was streaked with gray, were two wolf ears.

Geo sighed, finally finished organizing his papers. Despite being nigh-vital for Hunters and Huntresses, in order to take the class, the upcoming Hunters and Huntresses and their families had to sign permission forms and release forms. And lucky Professor Rightwater had to sort all of them. As usual, all of the forms were in order, which meant no headaches.

Geo finally filed the last form away under the correct name. He leaned back in his seat to relax, and caught the time. Two minutes until Ozpin's speech. Great.

When the last of the students filed into the auditorium, they were greeted with Beacon's Headmaster, Deputy Headmistress, and Dust Studies Professor.

Geo's eyes quickly found Pyrrha: alone in a crowd of people she clearly didn't know. Geo felt his lips pull down slightly. He understood that it wouldn't be instant friendships, but Geo had hoped that she'd at least make an acquaintance with someone. His train of thought was interrupted by Ozpin.

"I'll… make this brief."

* * *

 **Chapter 1 done! Thanks for reading my story! Please leave a review telling me how you think I did!**

 **With that out of the way, this is massively AU. We don't know for sure, but I know that you know that Pyrrha probably wasn't abandoned in some creepy-ass woods to be picked up by some Faunus who barely knew who he was, but that's what fanfiction's for!**

 **Translations (I used Google Translate so bear with me):**

 **Kaiteki- Japanese for "comfort"**

 **Andreíos- Greek for "valiant"**


	2. Chapter 2: Players and Pieces

It is something of a rule at Beacon for the new teacher to be the one to run most of the errands and such, veiled as a way to "build camaraderie" between the new and old teachers. In reality, the new teacher really couldn't say no to Ozpin due to being new, and the others took advantage of that. And, because of this, Geo was in the Emerald Forest at three in the morning, with a black bag slung over his shoulder.

Geo, naturally for this hour, was grumbling to himself. He'd been sleeping when Professor Port had shaken him awake and told Geo that Port was in charge of placing the relics at the temple this year, but he'd forgotten, so could Geo please do it for him? And of course, Geo had accepted. The bag contained two sets of chess pieces, sans the pawns. Geo thought he understood the symbolism behind it- Hunters and Huntresses, be they were good or evil, were never just pawns.

Geo could feel the distinctive tugging on his conscious that signaled a coming splinter. In the past seventeen years, Geo felt like he could accurately categorize the splinters into three distinct types. The first type was audio: Geo's vision would black out for a second and a memory of a conversation would implant itself into his memory. This kind was what his first splinter was like. The second type was conceptual: images and sounds would scream into his mind, he himself only managing to catch a few snippets as they entered, filling him in on a certain concept. This was what his second splinter was. The third kind was simply an image, with no context whatsoever. Geo hadn't had many of the third kind, but they always left him with more questions than answers. A particularly worrying image splinter happened a few days before Pyrrha's thirteenth birthday.

* * *

Geo had been out in Kaiteki proper, the house that he'd bought being on the outskirts. He was shopping for a birthday present for Pyrrha when his gaze fell on a display in the window of a jewelry store. It was a bronze diadem, inlaid with emeralds. It had one emerald in the front and two where the temples would be.

Another splinter came.

 _It was the same diadem as he was looking at, but it was covered in ashes._

Despite the unsettling feeling Geo got from the splinter, he just couldn't not buy it for Pyrrha, despite the feeling that he was making a terrible mistake.

* * *

Finally, after hours of searching, Geo had found the temple as the sun's first rays pierced the night. It was a crumbling ruin, a remnant of a long-passed civilization. The ruins stretched for about half a mile back across a canyon, with the temple only a few feet away from the cliff. What remained of the temple was a semicircular wall about fifteen feet high, with ten pedestals. Geo walked up to the pedestals and placed the chess pieces on each pedestal, with white on one side and black on the other.

After making sure that the pieces would stay where they were, Geo walked out of the temple. The chess pieces were fine and all, but he couldn't help feeling that something other than chess pieces would be better for the relics.

Another splinter came.

 _"The four of you recovered the two moon emblems. For the next four years, the four of you will work together as Team Green, lead by Geo Rightwater."_

Now that was interesting. Geo was the leader of his team while in training. Unfortunately, he still had no idea who the people on his team- Green, however it was spelled- were, and the splinter had offered no information on them. Who were they? Were they friend or foe? Were they even alive anymore?

A crack from somewhere to Geo's left snapped him out of his thoughts. A distinct feeling of wrongness set Geo on edge. Of course, every Hunter and Huntress worth their salt knew what this feeling was: Grimm. Geo made to draw Verdant Penumbra, and cursed. In his sleep-addled haze, Geo had left Verdant Penumbra back at Beacon.

Any further self-depreciation was cut short when the Grimm Geo had sensed burst through the trees. It was giant, with a scorpion-like body and a luminous yellow stinger- a Deathstalker, the moss growing on its bone plates marking it as an older Grimm. Geo took one look at it, and made a decision.

"Nope," he said turning his back on the Deathstalker and walking into the forest. The Deathstalker's claw flashed out and pierced the tree Geo had walked behind. Surprisingly, there was a lack of sticky Hunter-based jelly on its claw, the emotions it had sensed completely gone.

* * *

"What's a landing strate-" the initiate's- Jaune, wasn't it?- question quickly devolved into a panicked scream as he was launched into the Emerald Forest.

"I still don't believe you should have accepted Arc's application," Glynda said to Ozpin. "No matter how much potential he has, the boy is going to die here."

Ozpin smiled mysteriously. "Don't worry, Glynda. I have ensured that Mr. Arc will find himself with a partner that I feel will allow him to thrive."

Geo missed the rest of their conversation, too engrossed in his work. There was something in the splinter from the previous night that bugged him.

 _No matches for 'Geo Rightwater' in Atlas database._

The voice from the splinter sounded like Ozpin. Geo had no idea if Ozpin worked at any other school before coming to Beacon, or if he had a brother that worked elsewhere.

 _No matches for 'Geo Rightwater' in Haven database._

Yes, Geo could ask them man himself, but he felt that he needed to figure this out on his own.

 _No matches for 'Geo Rightwater' in Shade database._

Geo growled angrily. What the hell was up with this?

 _One match for 'Geo Rightwater' in Beacon database._

Geo's eyes widened. Was there something in his past at (possibly) Beacon?

 _Name: Geo Rightwater_

 _Aliases: None_

 _Age: 45_

 _Height: 5'4"_

 _Weight: 120 lbs._

 _Species: Wolf Faunus_

 _Occupation: Hunter/Beacon Professor_

 _Family: Mother: unknown, father: unknown, siblings: unknown, children: Pyrrha Nikos, adopted daughter_

Geo closed his eyes and sighed. The file went on further, detailing his weapon, Semblance, and various other personal facts. Of course he'd managed to stumble upon his own employee file. Feeling it was a lost cause to keep searching, Geo tuned his Scroll back into the network of hidden cameras that populated the Emerald Forest. Nothing, nothing, nothing, someone chopped down the tree that this camera was attached to, nothing, Lie Ren fighting a King Taijitu, nothing, and something that made Geo pause.

* * *

"C'mon, Pyrrha, I'm sure the temple's in here!" Jaune said. The duo were standing in front of the mouth of a cave.

"I… don't know," Pyrrha said. "I'm not getting a good feeling from that cave."

"Pyrrha, you're an amazing fighter. If anything goes wrong, I'm sure you can handle it," Jaune persuaded.

Pyrrha blushed. "Thank you, Jaune. But my father always told me to trust my instincts, and they're telling me to run."

Jaune made a dismissive noise. "Where's your sense of adventure?" He asked, already walking into the cave. Pyrrha chuckled to herself and ran after her partner, unaware of the camera focused on the mouth of the cave, or of the exasperated man looking through the camera.

* * *

"Pyrrha, that's not how you convince someone," Geo said. "Oz- Headmaster, do we have any cameras in that cave?"

"I'm afraid not," Ozpin replied. "The Deathstalker that lives there is old, and has made that cave its home for so long it knows the layout by heart and destroys any cameras we place."

Geo felt icy fear grip his heart as his blood ran cold. Of course the Deathstalker he hadn't killed would be in initiation, oh they were going to die, then he'd be alone and he'd have to explain to the Arc family what happened and he needed to help them but DUST DAMN IT the rules said he couldn't and-

A heavy hand fell on Geo's shoulder. "Relax, Geo," Ozpin said. "They will be fine. This is what they are training to fight."

Geo took a deep breath. "Right," he said. "But I can't help worrying, you know? My daughter is in a cave with a bumbling fool and an opponent of the level that she's only defeated with my help."

"Yes. But remember, she is not alone," Ozpin answered. "If she lures the Deathstalker to the temple she could gain the support of the other initiates."

"I know that. But even with that, I'm still worrying."

"A natural reaction. Your daughter is in danger, and your parental instincts want you get her out of danger. But like I said earlier, she is training to fight the Grimm."

A girl screamed in the distance.

* * *

"Runrunrunrunrunrun!" Jaune panicked, a very old and very angry Deathstalker on his and Pyrrha's tails. A yellow stinger shot into the space where Jaune was mere seconds earlier, a quick yank forwards with Pyrrha's Semblance being what saved him.

"Thanks!"

"You're welcome!"

Despite the terrifying situation he was in, Jaune had not screamed (very loudly) and had (somewhat) clear thoughts.

' _Alright, Jaune, think. We can't fight this thing on our own. Both me and Pyrrha need to get close to it to fight it well, but if we do that we'll die. At least, probably. My Aura force-field probably isn't strong enough to take a hit from that thing, and since Pyrrha hasn't tried to face it, hers probably isn't either. We need help.'_

"Pyrrha!" Jaune yelled to his partner. "We need backup!"

Pyrrha nodded. "Follow me!"

Pyrrha jinked to her left, away from the Deathstalker. Jaune dove right, letting the Deathstalker barrel past him. He quickly scrambled to his feet and tore off in Pyrrha's direction. Jaune opened his mouth to ask where they were going, and his unasked question was answered when they ran into a clearing with what Jaune assumed were the ruins they were told to reach. Standing in the ruins were six other people, one of which was favoring her left leg. Seeing the people who were clearly far more skilled than he was, Jaune formally and eloquently asked for their assistance.

"HEEEEEEEEEEELP!" Or rather, he tried. It's kind of hard to say anything formally and eloquently when you have a giant evil death scorpion of death on your heels. Speaking of said giant evil death scorpion of death, the Deathstalker barreled through the trees with the sound of snapping matchsticks. Seeing this, two people reacted. The first, a girl wielding a grenade launcher, started to run over and opened fire on the Deathstalker. The second, a boy in green, placed both hands on the ground and closed his eyes. Jaune felt an odd feeling crawl up his legs to cover his entire body. Pyrrha, who still ran in front of him, flinched slightly, and her colors faded to gray. Jaune would've been very, very confused about this turn of events, had his emotions not been… dampened was probably the best word for it. Once Jaune and Pyrrha reached the boy in green- and did he have a pink streak in his hair?- he opened his eyes, and the odd feeling left. At the same time, Jaune's emotions rose back to their previous intensity and Pyrrha's colors came back.

"Thanks… for the… save," Jaune panted. The boy in green nodded.

"Jaune! You're okay!"

"Ack! Ruby! Get off me!" Jaune said as he tried to extricate himself from Ruby's enthusiastic hug.

Meanwhile, Pyrrha had made her was over to a girl in white, who was favoring her left leg.

"Are you alright?" Pyrrha asked her.

"I'm fine," the girl said.

"Weiss-" _'It was Weiss, right?'_ "-you're not fine," Pyrrha said, motioning to Weiss's leg. Her ankle was red and swollen.

Weiss huffed. "I'm going to attend Beacon, broken ankle or not."

Pyrrha was going to counter that statement, by a shout from afar stopped her.

"Are you gonna help, of am I gonna hafta take all the credit for killing this thing?!" The girl from before shouted.

"We're coming!" Jaune shouted back, running towards the girl. Pyrrha, of course, joined him, as did the boy in green, who was probably the girl's partner. Jaune drew his sword and deployed his shield, Pyrrha drew Miló and Akoúo, and the boy in green drew a pair of what looked to be submachine-guns attached to long, fang-like blades. The boy circled left and opened fire on the Deathstalker, while Pyrrha circled right and did the same. Jaune, in a desperate attempt to block the stinger headed for him, as he'd ran straight, dropped his sword and braced his shield with both arms. The yellow stinger flashed down and scraped off of Jaune's shield. Jaune was thrown to the ground, rather surprised that he hadn't gotten impaled. Unfortunately, he was still right in front of the Deathstalker, which still had two claws. Pyrrha impaled one of the claws, using her Semblance to hold herself in place. The other claw was crushed by the girl before, whose grenade launcher had turned into a hammer.

"Thanks!" Jaune said, scrambling backwards.

"You're welcome!" Pyrrha said, while the other girl yelled over "No Problemo!"

Something then occurred to Jaune. "Wait, where's-"

"Ren!" The girl in pink shouted. "Go for it!"

The boy in green- Jaune assumed his name was Ren- leaped up from behind the Deathstalker, slashing repeatedly at its stinger. The Deathstalker flexed its tail to throw Ren off, although thankfully it wasn't at an angle to pierce him. Jaune ran over to Ren to help him up.

"Ren, are you okay?" Jaune asked. Ren nodded.

"The Deathstalker isn't going to fall for that again," Ren said.

"Right, let me think," Jaune said. His eyes went from Pyrrha's shield, to the Deathstalker's stinger, to the girl in pink's hammer. His eyes widened.

"I have an idea!" He shouted. "Um, pink girl-"

"Nora."

"-Nora! How does your hammer work?"

Not breaking stride, Nora replied "Like a normal hammer! But if I pull the trigger, a grenade explodes and makes it hit harder!"

"How many grenades do you have left?"

"One!"

"Save it! Pyrrha, can your shield cut the stinger off?"

Pyrrha eyeballed the stinger, which barely hung on. "I'd need to use my Semblance, but I can."

Jaune nodded. "Cut off its stinger!"

Pyrrha's shield briefly flashed a dark red as she reared back. She paused to take aim, and whipped her shield forwards. The streak of golden metal easily sawed through the remaining tendons of the Deathstalker's stinger. Nora had caught on to the plan and was already in position to bring her hammer down on the stinger. With the strange war cry of "Boop!" she pulled the trigger just as her hammer impacted the stinger. With a bang and a blast of pink smoke, the stinger shot down through the Deathstalker's bone ridge and into its brain, killing it instantly.

Jaune sat down hard in relief. He'd survived his first encounter with a Grimm! Nora twirled her hammer, Pyrrha recalled her shield, and Ren just flopped face down.

"Give me a minute," he mumbled through the grass.

* * *

"Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, and Lie Ren," Ozpin said. "The four of you recovered the two white bishop pieces. For the next four years, you will work together as Team Juniper."

At this, the letters faded out from under the new teammates's portraits, leaving only the J in Jaune, the N in Nora, the P in Pyrrha , and the R in Ren to spell JNPR.

"Team JNPR will be led by Jaune Arc," Ozpin finished. The assembled students and teachers laughed when Nora hugged her team leader, causing him to nearly topple over. In the back, Geo applauded loudly for Pyrrha. He had to admit that although he wanted Pyrrha to become leader, Jaune was probably the better choice. For someone so inexperienced, he kept his cool rather well in the heat of battle, and his coordination with his team was admirable.

Perhaps having Pyrrha under Jaune's surprisingly competent guidance would help the sense of unease Geo had since coming to Beacon.

* * *

 **A/N: And finally, after a month and a half of waiting, the story progresses! I have absolutely no excuse for taking this long. I'm sorry.**

 **Also, within a few days, I will be putting up the first chapter of what I call a supplementary fic, titled Recollections. It's a series of mostly unconnected one-shots that take place in the seventeen year timeskip at the end of last chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY- Rooster Teeth does**


	3. Chapter 3: The Badge and the Burden

**EDIT 4/17/17: I reworked the scene at the end and fixed some dialogue I felt was off**

* * *

Ah, the first day of school. It is universally one of the most disliked days of the school year, ranking highly among such detestable titans such as presentation day for projects and final exam day. Almost every person involved, both student and faculty, felt that whatever time it was they had to wake up at was far too early, and spent most of the rest of the day half-awake. It was almost a rule.

"GOOOOOOOD MOOOOOOORNING BEACON!" Sadly, Nora Valkyrie was an exception to the rule.

"Nora, go back to sleep," Jaune mumbled through his pillow.

"NO!"

"It is five in the morning," Ren noted.

"Of course Ren's wide awake," Jaune groaned.

"SO WHAT IF IT'S FIVE?!"

"Our classes don't start until eight," Ren replied.

"Oh, right," Nora said, visibly deflating. But then she sprung right back. "BUT BREAKFAST STARTS IN HALF AN HOUR!"

"Yes, it does," came a fourth voice. A darkening aura began to emanate from Pyrrha's bed, as Pyrrha, bright red hair in a rat's nest, emerged from her bed. With a creaking sound, she slowly turned her head to Nora with a dull look in her eyes.

"Breakfast does start in half an hour," she said in a monotone. "However, breakfast doesn't end until thirty minutes before classes start. So, we're going back to sleep, and we're going to go to breakfast in at least an hour. Got that?"

Nora nodded frantically. "Yes, ma'am!"

"Good." Her piece finished, Pyrrha slumped backwards into her bed and began to snore.

If Nora was an exception of the rule, then Pyrrha was its militant follower.

* * *

Ten minutes before class was due to start, JNPR entered the classroom. Pacing in front of his desk with a cup of coffee in hand was their professor.

"Good morning, Dad," Pyrrha said. It took Geo a second to react before turning to Pyrrha.

"Mornin'," he said, stifling a yawn.

"Wait, 'Dad?!'" Jaune said. Geo cocked an eyebrow at him, the corresponding wolf ear flattening.

"He only recognized me from the cereal boxes," Pyrrha explained. Geo nodded.

"Professor Rightwater, did you not sleep well?" Ren asked. "You have bags under your eyes and you're less alert than yesterday."

Geo stifled another yawn. "Oh, no, I slept fine. Thanks for your concern, though. In fact, I slept so well I woke up five minutes ago."

"You're not a morning person either?" Jaune asked.

Geo shook his head. "Wait, either?"

"I woke everyone up at five!" Nora said.

"How are you alive?!"

Pyrrha nervously ground her foot on the floor. "I think I did that thing where I threaten someone in my sleep again," she admitted.

"You were asleep?!"

Geo sighed. "Did you at least apologize when you woke up?"

"She did," Ren said. "Rather profusely I might add."

Geo nodded. "Well, get to your seats. Class starts in a few minutes and I'm going to try to empty the coffeepot before then."

True to his word, Geo did attempt to drink the entire coffeepot before class began. He finished the last dregs of the coffee when Team RWBY came sprinting in the door mere seconds before the bell rang- at least, Blake and Yang did. Ruby had arrived a minute before the two in a flurry of rose petals, while Weiss hobbled in on crutches with her left foot in a cast about ten seconds later.

"Good morning, class!" Geo said, for the moment perfectly awake. "It's nice to see that all of you are on time for your first class, with the exception of Miss Schnee, however she is excused due to her broken ankle. My name Geo Rightwater, but in this class, you will refer to me as Mister Rightwater, Professor Rightwater, or just Professor. Does everyone understand?"

Geo scanned the classroom to see every student's eyes on him, except one.

"Is something funny, Mr. Winchester?" Geo asked.

To his credit, Cardin didn't flinch. "Oh, it's nothing," he said.

"I'm sure you meant 'It's nothing, Professor'," Geo corrected. "And it obviously wasn't nothing, or you wouldn't be snickering to yourself about it."

Cardin narrowed his eyes. "Why should I tell you?"

' _Oh, so that's we're gonna play this,_ ' Geo thought. "Because I'm your teacher, and I asked you a question."

"I don't have to listen to a stinking Faunus!" Cardin shouted.

Geo narrowed his eyes. Geo was standing at the front of the room, but in an instant he was behind Cardin, gripping his shoulder so tightly you could see wisps of Cardin's orange Aura bleeding off him.

"You can feel your Aura straining can't you?" Geo whispered in Cardin's ear.

"Y-yes, Professor."

"And you know that I could easily shatter your Aura?"

"Y-yes, Professor."

"And do you know what the only thing keeping me from breaking your shoulder is?"

"M-my Aura, Professor."

"No. The only thing keeping me from breaking your shoulder is the fact that we haven't started using Dust in combat. Once we start doing that, I can break your shoulder and make it look like someone else's fault. So, Mr. Winchester. Do you care to repeat what you said?"

"N-no, Professor."

Geo smiled mirthlessly. "Good answer."

When Geo walked past Cardin to the front of the classroom, Cardin saw something in Geo's eyes. Cardin didn't know what it was, but it was wrong. Twisted...

Unstable.

"Now!" Geo said, the wrongness gone from his eyes. "I'm sorry you all had to see that. But we need to establish some ground rules. First and foremost: no racism of any kind. I'm fine with friendly ribbing, but not genuine discrimination. We're here to protect both human and Faunus kind, so act like it. And don't think you can get out of racism by saying the person is your friend- I can read all of you like a book. And second, please don't talk while I'm talking. I'm your teacher, so if I'm talking, it's probably important. Any questions?"

A hand was tentatively raised from JNPR's area.

"Yes, Mister Arc?"

Jaune cleared his throat. "Well, when you were... talking with Cardin, you mentioned combat."

"And you're wondering why we're doing combat in the Dust Studies class?"

Jaune nodded.

"Well, in this class, we'll be spending about a month on the history of Dust and the machines that were created or changed by it's discovery," Geo explained. "That's going to be the last month before the end of the year. For the eight months leading up to that, we'll be studying the applications of Dust in combat."

Jaune 'ahh'ed in understanding.

"Now!" Geo said. "Who here uses Dust in combat?"

A few scattered hands were raised. Geo frowned.

"Alright, here's a better question," he said. "Who uses some form of firearm or Dust wand in combat?"

Almost everyone's hands were raised- including Geo's.

"Congratulations," Geo said. "Everyone with your hand up- and yes this includes me- you use Dust in combat!"

Confused murmurs broke out.

"All firearms use Dust, no matter the kind of round it is," Geo explained. He walked over to his desk and pulled one of his bullets out. "This is how a bullet works: here-" he pointed to the tip- "is the actual projectile. Most weapons use slugs, solid projectiles, but some use a bullet that sends out a spray of smaller pellets when fired, for a greater spread but shorter range. The most common kind of pellets sold to Hunters and Huntresses is called Grimmshot, and is designed to be strong enough to hurt the creatures of Grimm. Both slugs and Grimmshot are propelled when the hammer- the thing that actually moves when you pull the trigger- strikes this-" Geo pointed to the bottom of the bullet- "which then sets off a small charge of Burn Dust. Once the Burn Dust ignites, the force of it sends the slug forwards or the Grimmshot out."

The students nodded.

"In the first eight months of this class, I expect you to have some kind of improvement while using Dust spells," Geo said. "Even if you go from nothing to hurling lightning haphazardly, you're still throwing lightning. Now, does anyone volunteer to demonstrate a basic Dust spell?"

Weiss's hand shot up. "Anyone at all?" Geo said, ignoring Weiss's raised hand.

"Miss Rose!" Geo suddenly said. Weiss huffed in annoyance and lowered her hand.

"Yes?!" Ruby said, startled.

Geo smiled. "Would you care to demonstrate a basic Dust spell?"

"O-oh!" Ruby said, bumping her fingers together. "I kinda can't use Dust without a wand."

"That's alright," Geo said. "You can borrow mine."

Geo produced a two foot long Dust wand. The hilt was about four inches long, with a recess in the hilt, and was pitch black. He gave it to Ruby, who had appeared next to him. She held it in a kind of reverence. She could tell from the way it was balanced that it wasn't just a Dust wand.

"Miss Rose," Geo said. "While I'm sure we both think that Midnight is a fine piece of equipment, I did ask you a question."

"Sorry!" Ruby squeaked, trying to disappear into her hood.

Geo chuckled good naturedly. "It's fine, Miss Rose. I asked you what kind of Dust you need for the spell."

"Oh!" Ruby said. "Just some Burn Dust."

Geo grabbed a phial of Burn Dust and inserted it into Midnight's hilt. Stepping back, he nodded to Ruby. She closed her eyes and concentrated. Slowly, she began to speak.

"Element of Flame, heed my call!" Ruby said. "Bend to my will, and bring light to this world!"

Ruby opened her eyes and flicked the tip of Midnight in a circle. "Burning Candle!"

A few feet away from Ruby, a tiny fireball sputtered to life in the air. It floated there for a few seconds before extinguishing.

"Thank you, Miss Rose," Geo said, taking back Midnight. "That was a wonderful demonstration of Burning Candle. Can anyone other than Miss Rose tell me what Burning Candle does?"

Once again, Weiss's hand shot up.

"Miss Xiao Long!" Weiss lowered her hand again, a thick vein pounding in her head.

"Well, Burning Candle is a Burn Dust spell," Yang began. "It creates a tiny flame that produces a lot of light for its size."

"Exactly correct!" Geo praised. "Burning Candle is what's known as a basic Dust spell. Basic Dust spells use next to no Dust, and are simple enough so that they can be used by anyone with unlocked Aura. As the Dust spells get more and more advanced, they use more and more Dust, and they take more and more training to use. Now who can tell me what all of the current types of Dust are?"

For a third time, Weiss's hand shot into the air. Geo looked around the room.

"No one?" He asked. Weiss began waving her hand back and forth. "Very well then. There are currently nine different types of Dust. There is Burn Dust, which is red and allows us to generate fire and increase heat. Then there is Quake Dust, which is orange and allows us to shape the earth to our wills. The third kind is Shock Dust, which is yellow and allows us to create and manipulate electricity. The fourth kind is Gale Dust, which is green and allows us to manipulate the air itself. The fifth kind is Freeze Dust, which is light blue and allows us to create ice and decrease heat. The sixth kind is Torrent Dust, which is dark blue and allows us to create and manipulate water. The seventh kind is Gravity Dust, which is purple and allows us to manipulate gravity. The eighth kind is Aura Dust, which is white and stores or generates extra Aura depending on the alignment of its crystals. And the ninth kind is Structure Dust, which is black and is very structurally sound in just about any form. Any questions?"

Geo looked around the room. "Very well then. You may begin-"

"EXCUSE ME!" Weiss screeched. "I HAVE HAD MY HAND RAISED FOR THE PAST FIVE MINUTES! I HAVE KNOWN EVERYTHING YOU SAID ABOUT DUST THIS ENTIRE PERIOD! AND RUBY'S DEMONSTRATION OF BURNING CANDLE WAS TERRIBLE! A CHILD COULD HAVE DONE BETTER! I COULD HAVE SHOWN THE CLASS WHAT BURNING CANDLE WAS SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE, INSTEAD OF THAT WEAK-"

Geo cut her short by suddenly appearing directly in front of Weiss, much like he had with Cardin earlier.

"Miss Schnee," he growled out. "Hallway. NOW."

When Weiss got up, Geo turned to the rest of the class and said "As I was saying, you may begin to pack up for your next class. I must speak to Miss Schnee."

* * *

"I hope you're happy, Weiss," Geo said. The girl flinched. "I don't like getting angry, and yet you made me angry again."

"Well, if you had actually called on me-"

"Stop," Geo interrupted softly. "Do you know why I ignored your hand?"

"Because you're another Faunus wanting to tarnish the Schnee name," Weiss replied. Geo frowned lightly, his ears folding back. "By ignoring me, you undermine my authority."

"How on Remnant did you get that in your head?" Geo asked, shaking his head in bewilderment. "I was trying to gauge how much the other students knew, and I couldn't do that if you and you alone answered everything. I wouldn't even dream of trying to undermine you by ignoring you."

Weiss's eyes narrowed. "You're lying."

Geo shook his head again. "Why would I? I hold no ill will against the Schnees, and I'm not affiliated with the White Fang in any way."

Weiss crossed her arms and looked away. "Because that's what Faunus do," she said quietly.

"That's what some Faunus do," Geo corrected. "The unfortunate thing about stereotypes is that the general population believes that the most vocal minority represents the majority. Yes, while some Faunus look to undermine the Schnees at every turn, most of us don't."

"And how do I know which side you are on?" Weiss asked.

Geo smiled grimly. "What do you think?"

Weiss opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by the bell ringing. Ruby immediately burst out of the door while hauling Weiss's things with her. Weiss yelped as she was slowly swept away by Hurricane Rose.

"You don't have to answer me now, Ms. Schnee," Geo called out to her. "Just think about it and remember to keep an open mind. Can you do that for me?"

To a normal human, Weiss's answer would have been too faint to hear. But, to Geo's enhanced Faunus senses, he could just barely make out two words.

"I'll try."

* * *

 **A/N: I certainly hope that's better than the original version. No overly racist Weiss, no weirdly comforting Geo, and no pointless Touhou references.**

 **I would like to say I've spent the last month working on this, but I'd be lying. Truth be told, I did these edits in about an hour, tops.**

 **And, to no one's suprise, I have canceled Recollections. I just couldn't find the will to work on it while also working on Splinters. I may or may not work on it after finishing Splinters, however.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY- Rooster Teeth does**

 **Constructive criticism is always welcome!**


	4. Chapter 4: The Wolf and the Dragon

A few weeks had passed since the first day of school. After the first day, rumors on how the new Dust Studies teacher was a monster of a man had already begun to spread. Some rumors said that he had razor sharp claws and a penchant for human flesh, different ones said he had plans to kill everyone in the school and take it over, and others said that his Semblance was fear inducement and he was planning to take over the school using it. No matter what the rumors were, they all had the same effect: almost the entire student body was afraid of Geo Rightwater.

' _I can't deny that fear is a powerful weapon,_ ' Geo thought to himself, watching students flinch away as he walked past them. ' _That doesn't mean I like using it, even unintentionally._ '

Geo sighed as he saw one student begin sprinting in the other direction. ' _Of course, it's my own damn fault I've got these rumors about me._ '

Geo pushed those thoughts out of his head as he reached his destination- the school gym. Classes had ended for the day, so Geo and the other teachers had three hours of free time on their hands before dinner. Geo, like most teachers, spent this time doing paperwork or planning for the next day of classes. However, the next few days were to be a practical exam on basic Dust spells, and Geo only needed to spend a few minutes planning for that. So, Geo had decided to go to the gym to keep his skills sharp.

While the school gym did have your standard gym equipment, that was off in a side room. The main attraction of the gym was its various combat simulators. Each combat simulator was a room that was a twenty by twenty by twenty foot cube that could house four people maximum, and could simulate combat in almost any situation imaginable.

Naturally, Geo was here for the combat simulators. He had changed into his workout clothes, a pair of white tennis shoes, dark green gym shorts, and a black T-shirt. As a part of his warmup, Geo jogged by the electronic board that displayed which combat simulators were currently in use. Regrettably, all of them were, but one of them had only one person in it. This situation was nothing new; the combat simulators were understandably popular. Geo would handle this situation like he had before; he would enter the simulator and ask the person inside if they wished to share. If so, then the two would share, no problems. If the person inside wished to be left alone or didn't wish to share, Geo would go do a standard workout.

Geo didn't want to injure himself upon entry, so he moved to stop the simulation. The simulators, typically voice activated from within, all had external panels in case of situations such as Geo's. Based on the readings of the external panel, whoever was inside was getting an intense workout. They had increased the gravity tenfold, had the temperature set to 200 degrees Fahrenheit, had it simulating an altitude of one and a half miles, and had the training bots set to the third highest difficulty. Geo hit the large red stop button and opened the door, wincing at the blast of nearly boiling air.

"Don't push yourself too hard," Geo said, throwing a water bottle to the person inside. The person gratefully caught it in their sweat-drenched hands.

"Ah, I coulda lasted a few more minutes like that," Yang said before guzzling the water. She was wearing a yellow sports bra and black compression pants, her veritable mane of blonde hair tied back in a ponytail. And of course, she had Ember Celica equipped, the twin shot-gauntlets retracted back to their braclet form.

"So, waddya want, teach?" Yang asked, stretching her arms above her head.

"I was wondering if you'd like to spar against a live opponent," Geo answered, slipping Verdant Penumbra into his hands.

Yang shrugged. "Eh, sure, why not?"

Geo nodded before crouching slightly, his blades held with their tips angled down. Yang deployed Ember Celica and rushed Geo with her fist cocked back for a right hook, a Burn Dust round chambered. The instant Yang began to swing forwards, Geo brought up Verdant Penumbra's left blade, the flat of the blade clanging off the side of Ember Celica, causing the Burn Dust to fire off to the side. When Yang swung up with her left arm for an uppercut, Geo jumped back a step. When he landed, he rushed forwards, his right blade coming up for a horizontal slash. Yang brought her left arm up to guard, but swiftly realized it was a feint as Geo planted his left foot and brought his blades down.

Yang staggered back as Geo snap-kicked her in the chest- he was probably aiming for Yang's head, but undershot due to their height difference, and the fact that Yang had a few inches of flesh protruding from her chest. Still, the stagger was all Geo needed to get a second attack in before Yang could retaliate. Geo twisted his body so that the foot he'd kicked with, his right, was in front of his left. This stance wasn't very stable, but that wasn't the point. This manoeuvre had also left Geo's torso facing somewhere between sideways and backwards, which _was_ the intended purpose.

Before Geo could fall, he tightened his core, bringing his entire body forwards in a powerful whipping motion. He had both arms to his right side, creating a powerful, cutting fan blade of metal. The attack skidded off of Yang's hasty guard, the force behind the attack almost breaking it. Yang grimaced as she felt Verdant Penumbra scrape across her left arm, taking a few layers of skin with it. She threw a retalitory right jab, but Geo was already out of range, using the excess momentum from his attack in a backwards handspring.

Yang rushed forwards again, this time her hair and right bicep wreathed in crackling flames, signifying the use of her Semblance. Geo prepared himself to deflect the attack, bringing his left blade to bear. The instant before Yang threw the punch, however, she smiled. Ember Celica retracted, and Yang brought both palms to the floor, her left crossing her right. She lifted the bottom half of her body an inch or two off the ground and swung it around clockwise, her entire back wreathed in her Semblance's flames. Yang felt her legs catch on Geo's right, and grinned wider in triumph. That grin melted away when she felt Geo's left leg wrap around her legs, trapping them.

With a small grunt of exertion, Geo fell onto his hands and brought his crossed legs high, Verdant Penumbra thrown to the side. As quick as he could, Geo uncrossed his legs and dropped down into a bridge-like pose, a disoriented Yang sailing above his head. Geo flipped up to a standing position, his right arm cocked back for a palm strike. He took two steps forwards, and his right arm began to glow a pale yellow. As Yang fell in front of Geo, he launched his glowing palm strike, hitting Yang in the stomach at almost full extension. When his palm made contact with Yang, there was a hollow _thoom_ , and Yang was launched into the wall of the simulator, the air _woosh_ ing out of her lungs.

Geo shook his arm, the pale yellow glow fading as he did so. He walked over to a gasping Yang and pulled her into a seated position. He was about to get up to retrieve Verdant Penumbra when Yang held up a hand.

"What... the hell... was that?" Yang wheezed out. "Your... Semblance?"

Geo shook his head. "No, it was just a trick with my Aura," he replied.

Yang nodded, too out of breath to try and speak again. Geo smiled softly and got up. He walked to the door, picking up Verdant Penumbra as he went. When he got to the door, he scrabbled around outside for a few seconds before throwing Yang another water bottle, which she caught greatfully.

"If you want another spar, talk to me after classes," he told Yang. She cracked an exhausted smile.

* * *

A few weeks later, Geo heard a knock on his office door.

"Come in, it's unlocked," he called out, not taking his eyes off of yet another bulk Dust order form. Still, he heard the door creak open and closed, and felt his left wolf ear twitch when the other person start talking.

"So, teach, I thought about your offer," she said. Geo looked up at Yang.

"And what is your answer, Ms. Xiao Long?" Geo asked. Yang's eyes shifted to the left briefly, then the right, before locking back onto Geo. He could also hear her heartbeat quicken slightly, and could smell the distressed pheromones she unwittingly released. Geo smiled softly at her.

"Despite the rumors, Ms. Xiao Long, I do not bite," Geo said, electing a chuckle from Yang. She then took a deep breath to psych herself up.

"Well, what if instead of a single spar," she began, "how about we turn this into a regular thing?"

Geo's eyes narrowed imperceptibly. "You're asking me to train you, outside of the classroom, during my breaks." It wasn't a question, and both of them knew it.

"Yes, sir," Yang replied, barely managing not to stutter.

"Why?"

Yang balked in surprise. She hadn't been expecting a why. Still, she recovered.

"I... I want to beat Pyrrha," Yang said. "Or at least tie with her. Or at least not get completely annihilated against her!"

Yang was shouting when she finished her sentence, eyes red and hair flaming. Geo felt an amused smile creep onto his face.

"Alright then," he answered. A crooked grin replaced his amused smile. "It's been a while since I've trained someone. And how could I say no to one of my top students?"

An identical grin to Geo's found itself on Yang's face. "This is gonna be the start of a beautiful relationship, teach."

* * *

 **And that's done! These first few chapters are going to mainly be creating the building blocks for Geo's relationship with teams RWBY and JNPR. He already has an "in" with JNPR with Pyrrha, and now he has (at least I think) a solid reason to now interact with the rest of RWBY.**

 **As for an update schedule, well... there isn't one, and there's probably never gonna be one. I'll update this as I go, so those of you that are invested in the story, don't expect regular updates. There might be gaps as large as this in the future, there might be larger, and there might be gaps like between chapters 2 and 3. It really depends on my mood.**

 **Now, here's something new (and optional!) I want to try out. At the end of the chapter (or maybe the beginning), I'll put up a recommended song for any fights in the chapter. I'll put one down here, and you can tell me what you think of the idea.**

 **Recommended Music:**

 **Geo vs. Yang- FFX Battle Theme**

 **Constructive criticism is appreciated!**


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